I've Seen The Rain
by ShadowOfApate
Summary: Experiment Fic. The fight against the First Evil goes very wrong. The world becomes a demonic shell of itself, forcing Willow to go back in time. Unfortunately, she knows, this time she can't bring Buffy back to life.


Title : I've Seen The Rain  
Author : Tariq ( formerly Aeris Jade Orion )  
Rating : R  
Pairing : WR/TM  
Timeline : Season Six

Summary : What if the First Evil had won? What  
if Giles had a back up plan? One which Willow  
had been forced to carry out alone?

Authors note: It's unbeta'd. At the moment I  
have no beta reader for this genre. So drop me  
a line if you're interested.

Second, due to health issues, and taking care  
of my disabled mom, I haven't been able to  
write much. But over the last several years  
I've managed to slowly write on a number  
of stories.

What I've decided to do is go ahead and  
publish what I've managed to put together.  
The stories are unfinished, and sometimes,  
the last chapter I worked on is unfinished.  
Plus, there maybe multiple chapters, each one a  
different version. Just warning everyone.

So I apologize in advance.

Disclaimer : Not mine. All characters belong  
to Joss Whedon.

00000  
Prologue  
00000

Willow swiped at the blood running freely from  
her forehead. Panting tiredly in exhaustion. She  
was low on energy and on magic.

It had been months since Buffy had opened the  
Hellmouth, and lost. Months since the Turok-Han's  
had over run the world. The uber vamps were too  
much for the newly risen, and untrained slayers  
still out there.

Willow could do nothing as they died in waves.  
Becoming extinct within weeks of her spell. This  
time there was no Faith or Buffy to ride to the  
rescue. Not even a Scooby.

Willow and Giles were the last two surviving  
members of the gang. Barely making it out of  
town with their lives.

" There's no choice. " Giles rasped in pain.  
His hand pressing the deep gash in his side.  
" You must fix this. "

" But the coven... Ms. Harkness... " Willow  
flinched at just the idea of what the ex-watcher  
was suggesting.

" After I discovered the cause of The First's  
attack's on the slayer line, I began to discuss  
the idea with the coven. " Giles admitted hoarsely.  
" Just before the final battle, they agreed that  
should things go wrong, it would be an acceptable  
risk. "

Willow sat beside her mentor in thought. The dusty  
crypt was dead quiet and it was a far cry from were  
they had been months earlier. Living in Buffy's  
boarded up house, no electricity, no hot water,  
no fresh food. Thirty something people cramed in.

She ran her bloody hands through her greasy, uncut  
hair. It fell forward in uneven strands, showing a  
number of white single hairs mixed throughout.

Magic.

It had been used almost constantly since her  
spell to activate the slayers. In the process,  
she had been given a hard life lesson in the  
difference between battle magic and black magic.  
Keeping a careful inner balance with an outer  
balance.

The result had been white hair peppered along  
her red hair. The intense use of white magic,  
powerful white magic, and the stress of grey  
battle magic being too much for her body.

Now, he was asking her to take it a step  
further. No, not a step. A stair case.

He wanted her to use the most powerful of all  
white magics to reset time and redo her life  
from the just before Buffy's resurrection.

No, Buffy. No, First Evil.

But what would the magic do to her? To her  
body? Yeah, she had in the past months regained  
her balance of black and white magic. Whoo and  
hoo. White hair, not so much with the whooing.

What about the Hellmouth? With no slayer they  
had been struggling, and yeah, she was all  
witchy foo, but she was using way too much magic  
as is.

The problems just kept adding up, and she  
had no answers.

" Willow, I believe in you. " Giles softly smiled,  
and took a rattling breath.

He was dead.

She didn't feel anything. Too much death, too  
fast. After a while, she had become numb. Simply  
closing their eyes, then moving on. No time to  
bury them, no time to pray, or say goodbye.

Slumping forward in defeat, she realized she had  
two choices.

She waited to die. Or she could not die.

00000

' She saved the world. A lot. '

Willow placed a small, smooth stone on Buffy's  
grave. Today was supposed to be the day she  
would bring up the idea of performing the  
resurrection spell. The first of many times  
spent trying to convince her three cohorts.

Instead, she would spend the meeting on other  
matters. The Hellmouth, Dawn, Mr. Summers,  
money issues, and a dozen other little problems.

She tucked her white and red hair back behind  
her ear. Wincing in pain at the simple movement.  
She felt raw inside. Raw, tender, and filled  
past bursting.

Her magic was five times more concentrated than  
it was. More bang for her buck.

She frowned at the grave of her best friend.  
So far she hadn't seen anyone yet. She'd arrived  
early in the morning, here where everything had  
started to go wrong.

How would she explain the changes in her? Her  
hair? Her magic? Her personality?

Goddess, Tara was alive.

There was so much to consider.

The sun rose in front of her. Painting the sky  
in a large range of colors. The air swirled  
around her, free of the dark magic and ash of  
the future.

' Goddess, if you hear me, guide a lost daughter.  
Watch over her as she stumbles down a path blindly. '

11111  
Chapter One  
11111

She entered Willy's with shaded eyes. Scanning  
the bar slowly. She had three targets today.  
Three very important targets.

Willow confidently paced up to a vampire in the  
back corner. Six foot one inches tall. Three  
hundred eighty nine pounds of pure muscle. Short,  
spikey, neon green hair. A dozen earrings in each  
ear.

" Pat? " Willow cocked her eyebrow at the brick  
wall.

" Who wants to know? " He rumbled.

" I'm Willow, the slayer's witch. " She let her  
power surface, smirking as the bar went silent.  
" I have a few bets to place. The question is,  
can you handle them? "

She reined in her magic so the demons around  
her could function. But even so, she could see  
the weariness in the patrions eyes.

Pat seemed more amused and curious than anything.  
Making her wonder what his story was. She knew  
just a handful of information about him. Mostly  
what she'd picked up over the years from dealing  
with Spike, Clem, and Willy.

" Depends on the bets. " Pat lifted a cigar from  
the tables ash tray and puffed on it.

She tugged a folded sheet of paper from her jeans,  
dropping it into in front of him. He unfolded it  
and chuckled.

" Well, well. The wicked witch doesn't do things  
by half. " Pat put his cigar down. " Horses, NFL,  
NHL, NBA, you've covered every bet I take. Hmmm.  
The amounts are very, very large too. High odds  
against you. "

" Is that a problem? " She challenged.

" Far from it. " Pat grinned widely. " You a  
seer? "

" Not a seer. " She mischieviously let out a  
single knowing giggle.

" But you're a witch. " Pat nodded, removing a  
thick book from his leather jacket, writing in  
it. " I'll take your bet's. "

Willow grew serious. Her magic coming alive.  
" You will honor them when I win. "

" The minute you win, I will honor them. " Pat  
agreed easily, giving her the betting ticket.

She noticed he was positive she would win. Yet,  
he didn't have her future memories.

' Strange vampire. ' She thought. ' Useful, but  
strange. '

" I'll be back tonight for my winnings. " She  
warned.

" I'll be here. " Pat assured.

She spun on her heel, and marched toward her  
next victim. A chaos demon in a booth by the  
front wall. Slime and all.

" Mr. Jameson? "

" Yes, ma'am. " The demon nervously spoke up.

" I have some items to sell. " Willow hefted  
a large duffle bag onto the table. " Rare  
mystical artifacts. "

" Really? " The demon perked up. He reached into  
his tweed jacket and removed a pair of thin  
glasses. He perched them on his nose with an air  
similar to Giles. " What do you have? "

" Nothing dangerous. " She said. " I don't want  
to risk anything apocalypsy getting out. "

She unzipped the bag. The first item she lifted  
out was a jar of blood. Sealed, labeled, and  
classified.

" Oohhh. Where did you get the blood of a  
virginal vengeance demon? " He blinked.

" Don't ask. " She blushed.

" Ten thousand. "

" Twenty. "

" Fifteen. "

" Ninteen. "

" Sixteen. "

" Eighteen. " Willow demanded. " Not a cent less. "

" Seventeen fifty. " He shot back.

" Agreed. " Willow opened a small pocket in the  
duffle bag. She grabbed the small flip notebook  
and pen, then made a note. " Okay, the next item. "

She removed the light bamboo, palm sized box. It  
was similar to a rubix cube. Instead of square's  
of color, it had symbols. Ancient Japanese. The  
borders were engraved with mythical Japanese  
creatures.

" Oh my. What a find. " He breathed. " A magical  
puzzle box. "

" Signed by Akihiko. "

" Dear Hades. " His hands shook, taking the box  
from her, cradling it like a newborn. " It's... "

" ...priceless. " Willow finished.

" Fifty thousand. " He offered.

" One million. " She countered firmly. " We both  
know it's worth a hundred times that. "

He looked up at her, then back at the box. " Very  
well. "

She made another note, then brought out the third  
item. A roll of leather.

" Leather from an Earth Elemental. "

" Those are very rare. " The demon was less  
excited, but interested. " Perfect condition,  
three yards... Five thousand. "

" Ten. "

" Six. "

" Nine. "

" Seven. "

" Eight. "

" Deal. " Jameson nodded.

She noted the latest amount down.

" Okay, the fourth item is a blank book of  
shadows. " She handed it over. It was prepared,  
protected, all inscribtions made, and magics  
completed. " Made with Sprite hide, thrice  
blessed by fairies, reinforced with dwarf  
silver. "

" Eight thousand. "

" Twelve. " Willow shot back.

" Nine. "

" Eleven Fifty. "

" Nine Fifty. "

" Eleven. " Willow became firm.

" Ten. "

" Ten Fifty. " Willow glared.

" Alright. "

Willow wrote it down. Then lifted out the last  
item. A jewelry box. Celtic. Pewter. Decorated  
with trinity knots. Three Rubys were on each  
side of the box.

" The Music box of Damara. " Willow smirked  
lightly. " I don't need a magical music box of  
fertility so... "

" I understand. " He chuckled. " Five hundred  
thousand. "

" Two million. " She countered. " It's a very  
powerful artifact. Ferility magic or not. "

" One. "

" One point eight. "

" One point two. "

" One point six. "

" One point three. "

" One point five. " Willow glared. " It's more  
than worth it. "

The demon sighed but nodded. " Bring the items  
back tonight and we'll make the exchange. "

" Fine. I'll see you at two. " She said,  
packing everything back up.

Which left one more piece of business. She lifted  
the duffle, and stalked behind the bar.

" Hey, you can't come back here. " Willy squeaked.

She snatched hold of his shirt collar, dragging  
him into the back room, then dropped her duffle.

" Hello Willy, we need to have a little talk. "  
She purred.

" W-what about? " He squirmed in her hold.

" I've been hearing rumors lately. Rumors that  
the slayer is dead. Now, you wouldn't happen to  
know anything about this, would you? "

" I don't! I swear! "

She slammed him into the wall. She let her magic  
loose. Let him feel it. Fear entered his eyes.  
The kind of fear Buffy usually installed in him.

" Try again. " She growled.

" Okay! Okay! " He whimpered. " One of Glory's  
minions got away. H-he saw the slayer die. He's  
been telling a-anyone who'd listen a-about what  
h-happened. T-the entire community knows. I-its  
this big joke, h-how you have t-that stupid bot  
out p-patroling. "

She felt her magic try to surge up. Her emotions  
want to get out of control. The entire summer the  
demon community had been kicking back and watching  
the show like they were a sitcom to laugh at.

" D-demons have been coming in from everywhere.  
They've been hiding underground. Waiting to  
make a move. The town is breeming with hundreds  
of demons. It's swarming. Overflowing. We're  
about to explode with 'em. " Willy whined.

' Oh Goddess. ' She felt her eyes harden. Her  
control tighten. She wasn't in the future anymore  
but she was a survivor of war. ' I won't lose  
anyone else. '

" Listen closely, Willy. " She leaned forward,  
hissing in his ear. " The slayer may be dead, but  
the Wicked Witch is here and ready to play. Any  
demon not out of town by morning gets a Willow  
special. "

" W-Willow special? " Willy trembled.

" Starting at sunrise, I will go from crypt to  
crypt, warehouse to warehouse, and I will  
personlly exterminate any demon I find. How  
depends on my mood. Maybe I'll skin them, maybe  
I'll pull them apart piece by piece, or maybe  
I'll just flambe them. Understand? Or do I have  
to give you an example? "

" NO! "

" Good. Spread the word. " She let him go,  
wrinkling her nose at the yellow stain spreading  
across the front of his pants. " By the way, do  
you know a good lawyer? Someone with a lot of  
magical or demonic experience? "

11111

" Where the hell have you been?! " Xander demanded,  
yanking his door open. " What happened to your  
hair? What are you wearing? "

" Are you Willow? " Anya blinked.

Willow walked into the couples apartment, pausing  
at the sight of everyone whole, and alive. Tara  
especially was a punch to the gut.

" Your magic... " The wiccan froze.

" I know. I did a powerful white spell this  
morning. " She explained. " I was worried Buffy  
might be trapped in Hell, so I decided to check  
on her soul. She's in Heaven by the way. "

" What does that have to do with your magic? "  
Anya frowned.

" Oh, it sort of interacted with all the black  
in me and overloaded it. I went all white haired,  
too. " Willow smiled sheepishly. " Talk about a  
power trip. "

" Y-you should have asked m-me to ground you. "  
Tara scolded lightly, hugging her tightly.

She wrapped her arms around the blonde. The  
smell of vanilla and cherries filling her  
heart with warmth.

" I know, sweetie, but I woke up from a  
nightmare, and couldn't get back to sleep. I  
kept imagining Buffy in Hell being tortured,  
and you know how my mind is. " She let go,  
settling for holding Tara's left hand instead.

" It never stops. " Tara smiled gently.

" To put it lightly. " Willow joked. " Plus, I  
worried Dawnie would wake up and I didn't want  
to leave her alone. "

" I understand. "

" So the meeting. " Xander clapped. " I vote  
we get started, and for the first order of  
buisness, I think we need a leader. "

" Oh, I agree, we defintely need a boss. "  
Anya nodded, taking a seat on the couch,  
yanking Xander next to her.

Tara took a seat in a chair, and Willow perched  
on the arm of it.

" I think it's a good idea. " Tara smiled at the  
ex-demon. " Willow? "

" Yep. "

" Great, in that case, I vote for Willow. "  
Xander beamed.

" Hey! " Anya smacked him in the chest. " Why not  
me? "

" Well, first, ouch! Secondly, Willow is the  
brainy type. She actually has an IQ in which  
the other genius's stop and stare in amazement  
at. Thirdly, Giles has been training her in  
Watcher like stuff since forever. Forth, ouch. "  
Xander rubbed at his chest.

" Okay, you have a point, " Anya pouted. " or  
two. Still as your fiancee you are obligated  
to give me a token nomination. "

" And he would, under any other nonhellmouthy  
circumstances, " Willow piped up. " but he loves  
you so much he would rather have you alive and  
mad at him, than dead and happy with him. "

" What do you mean? " Anya eyed her.

" Well, Buffy's secret death, not so secret. "  
Willow winced at pale white faces of her friends.  
" We've currently got a town swarming with  
hundreds of demons. "

" How...? " Tara asked.

" One of Glory's minion's survived, and has  
been blabbing to every demon he can find  
since. "

" Where'd you get your info? " Xander frowned.  
" 'Cause this isn't exactly something you pick  
up on the corner market, and I get the idea the  
demon community doesn't want this getting out. "

" I was at Willy's today and..."

" Okay, hold up. " Anya stopped her. " Why were  
you at Willy's? "

" I was taking care of our finacial problems. "  
Willow explained.

" Why don't I like the sound of that? " Xander  
questioned Anya.

" Because you're not a complete moron. " Anya  
patted his knee.

" Relax. " Willow rolled her eyes. " I was selling  
some harmless artifacts I've been hoarding. "

" And you didn't come to me first? " Anya huffed.

" I got a better deal from the chaos demon. "  
Willow shot back. " Plus, he didn't charge me  
some sort outragous finder's fee. "

" But I'm your friend, and I'm going to be your  
sister in-law. " Anya accussed.

" I made over two million dollars. " She said.

" Really? " Tara lit up in relief.

" Yeah. Much more than that, really. " She smiled  
back. " I also opened an off shore account with  
great interest, no fees, and it's not illegal. "

" Thank Goddess. " Tara kissed her.

" I also got the name's of a few attorney's who  
deal with the demon community. I need to research  
them, but they may be able to wrangle us custody  
of Dawn. It may mean getting paperwork for us to  
be life partners. You know, full power of authority  
and such, but I figure we can discuss that later. "

" What about the demons? " Anya demanded.

" Oh, right. " Willow frowned. " I overheard a  
vampire talking and cornered Willy. It took some  
persuasion but he spilled the beans. Said the  
demons have been getting a real laugh at us. "

" Oh boy. " Xander shuddered in fear. " What the  
hell do we do? "

" I vote for Willow. " Anya raised her hand.

" Me, too. " Tara raised hers.

" Great, so Willow's now the boss of us. Can  
we decide how to save the town, preferably while  
staying alive. " Xander gestured frantically.

" Actually, I had Willy pass on a message. I'm  
giving the demons til morning to get out of  
town. " Willow said.

" What?! " Anya sat up. " Why? "

" Two reasons. One, I have to go back to Willy's  
tonight to get my money, " She sheepishly admitted.  
" and two, I figure I can kill the majority of them  
in the day time. It'll be easier, and make more of  
a statement, after the whole message thing. "

" Especially if most of them are vampires. " Anya  
nodded. " Okay, I can see why you're the leader. "

" Thanks. " Willow smiled.

" I don't think you should be going back to Willy's  
alone. " Tara frowned.

" I have to get the money tonight. I made a deal,  
if I don't keep to my end, it could get nasty. "

" Willow's right, but so is Tara. " Anya said.

" Great, group outing. " Xander hopped up. " Spike  
is with Dawn so why don't we head out? "

Willow didn't like this idea at all. A greedy  
ex-demon, a construction worker, a wiccan, and  
a time traveling magical addict walk into a  
demon bar...

Some joke.

11111

" Oi, Red. " Pat called.

" Pat, how's business? " Willow walked over with  
Tara at her back and the other two following.

" You swept the board, kid. " Pat smirked.

" Angry? " She batted her eyes.

" Far from it. I was curious so I place my own  
bets using you for a guide. " Pat chuckled. " I'm  
thinking of naming you my lucky charm, or maybe  
my lady luck. "

He raised an eyebrow to an eight foot tall robed  
demon. It's nasty claws curled around a large  
canvass duffle. The figure threw it onto the  
table in front of her.

" Four million. " Pat handed her a recipt.

Willow unzipped the bag, pointedly ignoring Anya  
materializing next to her, and Xander's choking.

" Four...? " Tara frowned.

" I made a small bet. " Willow flipped through  
the stacks of money. She had no doubt Pat wouldn't  
cheat her. Not after her earlier display. But she  
wasn't taking any chances.

She rezipped the duffle, and handed it to Xander.  
Very happy to see him having to fend off his own  
fiancee. The blonde was doing everything and  
anything to get to the bag.

" You made a bet? " Tara intently focused.

" It's okay, sweetie. It was on a few things I  
was positive on. " She assured.

She let Tara brush her mind. Allowing the blonde  
feel her intent. Her trust in her information.  
Finally, the blonde left, and smiled in relief.

" We'll talk later, okay? " Willow gently asked.

" Okay. " Tara agreed.

She head over to Jameson and smiled at the  
cheery wave he gave. The chaos demon might be  
all antler's and slime but he was a friendly  
sort.

" Hey, you have the money? " She asked, sitting  
her bag on the table.

" Oh yes, I've already got several buyers lined  
up. " Jameson handed over a briefcase. " I can't  
wait to see what else you come up with. Why the  
venegeance demon blood alone is going is already  
sold. Virgin indeed. By the way how old was the  
demon? "

" Thirteen thousand, give or take a few hundred  
years. " She opened the briefcase, and scanned  
the money. " It's female blood. A black haired,  
blue eyed ex-viking. Real man hater, who isn't  
into women if you get my meaning. "

" Wait, you have blood from Hilda, and you sold  
it? " Anya stopped drooling over the money.  
" How'd you managed that? "

" It's actually kind of funny. I saw her at the  
Bronze. She was in the middle of a bar brawl.  
Drunk off her goard, and taking a lot of head  
shots. Finally she just sort of passed out in  
the middle of this mess. " Willow closed the  
briefcase. " She was in full demon face, and  
losing a lot of blood. "

" Y-you took her blood? " Anya gaped.

" W-well, it's not like she was doing anything  
with it at the time, a-and it was just going  
to waste. Plus, I bandaged her up. " Willow  
weakly protested.

Much to her confusion Anya hugged her and began  
to sniff. " I'm so proud. "

" W-what? " Willow's eyes widened in horror.

" My sister-in-law is a commerce fiend. A true  
money making expert. I never dreamed you would  
become my best friend in the whole world. " Anya  
gushed.

' Oh Goddess, no. ' She cried out in fear.

" You're my mentor. I must learn the ways of  
money from you. " Anya let go excitedly. " We  
must schedule a time for lessons. "

She shot Tara a look of pure desperation, but  
her lover was to busy giggling uncontrolibly.  
Turning to Xander, her nightmare was complete,  
her best friend was beaming at her. With pride.

Her shoulder's slumped in defeat. Eyes watering  
in despair. She sighed the sigh of the betrayed.

" The day after tommorrow we'll start. " She  
offered Anya weakly.

The blonde squealed in delight.

She slumped further down, pouting at the increase  
of giggles from Tara.

' Betrayed by the woman I love. '

-  
To Be Continued


End file.
